South Korean Shipyard Orders Plunge
As the global shipbuilding orders have declined due to fall in oil prices, the South Korean shipbuilders have also experienced a steep fall in order levels too, says latest data.
Industry data by global market researcher Clarkson Research Services released today (Friday) revelealed that the number of orders won by South Korean shipbuilders fell 36 percent last year as global demand for new ships shrank due to a tumble in oil prices.
South Korean shipbuilding companies took orders totaling 11.78 million compensated gross tons (CGTs), or 305 ships, ranking it second in the industry for the fifth consecutive year. Market share for South Korean companies came to 29.7 percent in 2014, falling from the preceding year when it was 30.5 percent.
China retained its top ranking for the same period. This contradicts recent report from Bloomberg that China is poised to lose its title as the world’s biggest shipbuilding nation to South Korea for the first time in five years. Chinese won orders of 15.31 million CGTs, or 801 ships, with their market share reaching 41.5 percent.
The plunge in oil prices caused new orders for ships worldwide to fall 34.7 percent to 39.70 million CGTs last year compared with 2013, the data said.
Japanese shipbuilders expanded their share in the global ship market. They took up 19.7 percent in 2014 by getting orders of 7.83 million CGTs, up from 17 percent in 2012 and 17.4 percent in 2013.
